The Weirdest Rock Stories of 2018

After looking back on the biggest, the coolest, the nastiest and the funniest rock stories of 2018, we arrive at the last refuge of the scoundrel – the weirdest stories of 2018.

This year’s scoundrels include a drug-smuggling Iron Maiden tribute artist, a YouTuber who appears to hate music, an organization who want you to attend concerts without actually going plus an artist who’s either a master troll or an unhailed genius. And, perhaps predictably, Donald Trump. Those and more can be found in the gallery below, and after that you can find links to our full stories on them.

We’ll admit it: sometimes, just sometimes, it can feel as if reporting rock news is a never-ending cycle of album releases, tour announcements, lineup changes and reunions. Even working in the music industry can get boring. When a weird story comes up it’s a breath of fresh air, and a reminder of why we do what we do. And since weird stories are entirely unpredictable, we can’t begin to guess what form they’ll take in 2019. We can’t wait.